A Dual‑Act Journey Through Hope and Darkness: The Untold - Thunder & Water: Acts 1 & 2 (A Two Part EP Review) Released: Act 1 (2022) & Act 2 (2025)
Emerging from Chicago’s vibrant heavy‑music scene, The Untold carve out their identity as a rock and metal quartet with a sharp progressive edge. Their sound is defined by towering melodic lines, intricate guitar work, and vocals that shift effortlessly between clarity and grit. Moments of harsh delivery cut through the mix with purpose, amplifying the emotional weight behind each song. Beneath it all, the rhythm section forms a tight, driving foundation capable of unleashing full force or pulling back to let quieter passages breathe. What sets the band apart is their commitment to narrative‑driven songwriting. Every track feels like a chapter, crafted to resonate with listeners on a personal level. Their goal isn’t just to perform, but to create a connection while offering space for shared emotion, empathy, and release. Onstage, The Untold transforms these stories into something even more immediate. Their live shows carry an intensity that draws the crowd in, turning performance into a genuine human exchange.
Act One (2022)
Thunder and Water: Act One introduces the concept with a sense of uplift and cautious optimism. According to the band, Act One carries “a glimmer of hope and positivity." The music leans into energetic, dynamic prog‑metal elements, balancing technicality with memorable hooks, but even at its heaviest, Act One feels like it’s reaching upward like a hand extended toward the light. The instrumentation is tight and deliberate, with soaring melodies and clean‑forward vocals punctuated by moments of grit, and it's a chapter defined by movement, momentum, and the belief that progress, even slow, is possible.
Where Act One reaches outward, Thunder and Water: Act Two turns inward. The band describes this chapter as “the darker side of mental health… the brutally honest side.” The title track in particular, “trudges through the deepest pit of depression and pulls you out the other side,” reflecting a shift from hope to confrontation. Musically, Act Two expands the band’s progressive tendencies. Reviews highlight its blend of explosive heaviness and fluid emotional undercurrents, questioning whether thunder and water fuse or clash in the band’s hands, and the result is a more introspective, emotionally raw experience, which is one that validates hopelessness while still offering a faint thread of connection and recovery. Taken together, Thunder and Water form a two‑part mental health concept EP as a story of rising, falling, and resurfacing. Act One offers the spark of hope; Act Two confronts the shadows that follow. The band themselves frame the project as a cycle that ultimately returns to the themes of Act One, tying the emotional arc together. It’s a rare example of a progressive metal project that treats heaviness not just as sound, but as storytelling, a way to articulate both the weight and the release.
Thunder and Water captures The Untold at their most intentional, weaving a two‑act narrative that moves from tension to reflection without losing emotional clarity. Act One and Act Two feel like mirrors held up to different sides of the same experience, each deepening the impact of the other. It’s a project built on honesty, contrast, and the kind of storytelling that lingers long after the final note fades. For a band so rooted in connection, this release feels like a defining statement, one that balances heaviness with vulnerability and precision with atmosphere. If you haven’t stepped into this world yet, it’s absolutely worth taking the time to listen. Experiencing both acts in sequence lets the full emotional arc unfold, turning the journey into something you don’t just hear, but feel.
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